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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 929 299 7 • 



Conservation Resources 



Two 



60th Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I Report 

1st Session. j j No. 1267- 



|ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 



March 18, 1908. — Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union and ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Rodenberg, from the Committee on Industrial Arts and Expo- 
sitions, submitted the following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany H. R. 10530.] 

The Committee on Industrial Arts and Expositions, to whom was 
referred the bill (H. R. 10530) to encourage the holding of an 
Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition at the city of Seattle, State of 
Washington, in the year 1909, reports the same with an amendment 
and with the recommendation that the bill as so amended do pass. 

Strike out all after the title and substitute the following: 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Home of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That all articles that shall be imported from foreign countries 
for the sole purpose of exhibition at the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, to be held 
at Seattle, State of Washington, in the year nineteen hundred and nine, upon which 
there shall be a tariff or customs duty shall be admitted free of the payment of duty, 
customs fees, or charges, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall prescribe; but it shall be lawful at any time during the exposition to sell for 
delivery at the close thereof any goods or property imported for and actually on 
exhibition in the exposition buildings or on the grounds, subject to such regulations 
for the security of the revenue and for the collection of import duties as the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury may prescribe: Provided, That all such articles when sold or 
withdrawn for consumption or use in the United States shall be subject to the duty, 
if any, imposed upon such articles by the revenue law T s in force at the date of with- 
drawal; and on articles which shall have suffered diminution or deterioration from 
incidental handling and necessary exposure the duty, if paid, shall be assessed accord- 
ing to the appraised value at the time of withdrawal for consumption or use, and the 
penalties prescribed by law shall be enforced against any person guilty of any illegal 
sale, use, or withdrawal. 

Sec 2. That there shall be exhibited at said exposition by the Government of the 
United States, from the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum, and the 
Library of Congress, such articles and material of an historical nature as will serve 
to impart a knowledge of our national history, and especially of the history o£ 
Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands, and that part of the United States west 
of the Rocky Mountains. There shall be exhibited from the Executive Departments 
of the United States such exhibits as will illustrate the function and administrative 
faculty of the Government and demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their 
adaptation to the wants of the people, special attention being given to such articles, 
materials, and exhibits as will most practically prove of educational value in con- 
nection with the development of commerce in the countries bordering upon the 



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2 ALASKA-YUKOIT-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 

Pacific Ocean; the preservation of forests; the reclamation and irrigation of arid and 
seiniarid lands; the improving and enlarging of transportation facilities and the 
safeguards of navigation; and the economic value of the investigations and operations 
of the Government with reference to public health, patents, geology, weather, animal 
industry, plant industry, soils, entomology, experiment stations, coast and geodetic 
survev, and public roads. And the International Bureau of American Republics is 
hereby invited to make an exhibit of the resources of the American Republics, par- 
ticularly with a view to establishing closer trade relations between the United States 
and said Republics, and space in any of the United States Government buildings 
shall be provided for this purpose. To secure a complete and harmonious arrange- 
ment of such Government exhibit a United States Government board of man- 
agement is hereby created, to be charged with the selection, purchase, prepara- 
tion, transportation, arrangement, safe-keeping, exhibition, and return of such 
articles and materials as the heads of the several Departments, the Secretary 
of the Smithsonian Institution and Keeper of the National Museum, the Librarian of 
Congress, and the Director of the International Bureau of American Republics may 
respectively decide shall be embraced in said Government exhibit. And said Gov- 
ernment board is hereby authorized to rent and use such building or buildings in 
the District of Columbia as may be necessary in the preparation of said exhibit. 
The President of the United States may also designate additional articles for exhibi- 
tion. Said Government board shall be composed of one person to be named by the 
head of each of the Executive Departments, one by the head of the Smithsonian 
Institution and National Museum, one by the Librarian of Congress, and one by the 
Director of the International Bureau of American Republics. The President shall 
name one of said persons so detailed as chairman, and the board itself shall appoint 
its secretary, disbursing officer, and such other officers as it may deem necessary. 
The members of said Government board, with other officers and employees of the 
Government who may be detailed to assist them, including officers of the Army 
and Navy, shall receive no compensation in addition to their regular salaries, but 
they shall be allowed their actual and necessary traveling expenses, together with 
a per diem in lieu of subsistence, to be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
wiiile necessarily absent from their homes engaged upon the business of the 
board. Officers of the Army and Navy shall receive said allowance in lieu of 
the subsistence and mileage now allowed by law; and the Secretary of War and the 
Secretary of the Navy may, in their discretion, detail retired army or navy officers 
for such duty. Any provision of law which may prohibit the detail of persons in the 
employ of the United States to other service than that which they customarily per- 
form shall not apply to persons detailed for duty in connection with said Alaska- 
Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Employees of the board not otherwise employed by the 
Government shall be entitled to such compensation as the board may determine, and 
such employees may be selected and appointed by said board. The disbursing officer 
shall give bond in such sum as the Secretary of the Treasury may determine for the 
faithful performance of his duties, said bond to be approved by said Secretary. The 
Secretary of the Treasury shall advance to said officer from time to time, under such 
regulations as he may prescribe, a sum of money, from the appropriation for the Gov- 
ernment exhibit herein authorized, not exceeding at any one time three-fourths of 
the penalty of his bond, to enable him to pay the expenses of said exhibit as author- 
ized by the United States Government board herein created. The Secretary of the 
Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to place on exhibition, in connection 
with the exhibit of his Department, upon such grounds as shall be allotted for this 
purpose, one of the life-saving stations authorized to be constructed on the coast of 
the United States by existing law, and to cause the same to be fully equipped with 
all apparatus, furniture, and appliances now in use in life-saving stations in the 
United States. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized and 
directed to place on exhibition, in connection with the exhibit of his Department, in 
such building or aquarium as shall be allotted for this purpose, a complete exhibit of 
the fish and fisheries of the United States, paying special attention to the fish and 
fisheries of the Pacific Ocean, with a view to demonstrating, in the fullest manner 
possible, the economic value of such fish and fisheries: Provided, That the cost of 
said exhibit herein authorized, including the selection, purchase, preparation, trans- 
portation, arrangement, safe-keeping, exhibition, and return of the articles and 
materials so exhibited, and for rent of building or buildings in the District of Colum- 
bia, shall not exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which sum, 
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money 
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to aid 
the people of the district of Alaska and of the Territory of Hawaii in providing and 
maintaining appropriate and creditable exhibits of the products and resources of 



ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 






Alaska and Hawaii at the said Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and for that purpose 
he is authorized to appoint one or more persons to supervise the selection, purchase, 
preparation, transportation, arrangement, installation, safe-keeping, exhibition, and 
return of such articles as may be exhibited from said Territories at said exposition: 
Provided, That the total expenditure for said exhibit for said district of Alaska on the 
part of the Government, including such selection, purchase, preparation, transporta- 
tion, arrangement, installation, safe-keeping, exhibition, and return of the articles 
so exhibited, shall not exceed the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which sum, 
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated: And provided further, That the total expen- , 
diture for said exhibit for the Territory of Hawaii on the part of the Government, 
including such selection, purchase, preparation, transportation, arrangement, installa- 
tion, safe-keeping, exhibition, and return of the articles so exhibited shall not exceed 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars, which sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, 
is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Sec. 4. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to aid the 
people of the Philippine Islands in providing and maintaining an appropriate and 
creditable exhibit of the products and resources of the Philippine Islands at the said 
Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and for that purpose he is authorized to appoint 
one or more persons to supervise the selection, purchase, preparation, transportation, 
arrangement, installation, safe-keeping, exhibition, and return of such articles as 
may be exhibited from said Philippine Islands at said exposition: Provided, That the 
total expenditures for said exhibit on the part of the Government, including such 
selection, purchase, preparation, transportation, arrangement, installation, safe-keep- 
ing, exhibition, and return of the articles so exhibited, shall not exceed the sum of 
fifty thousand dollars, which sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby 
appropriated out of any.money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Sec. 5. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause suitable buildings to be 
erected on the site of said Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition for said Government 
exhibit, including an irrigation andbiograph building; also a fisheries building com- 
plete, w 7 ith mechanical apparatus; also buildings for the exhibits of the district of 
Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands; also buildings for such 
other purposes in connection with the exhibits herein authorized as in the judgment 
of the Secretary of the Treasury may be necessary. Said buildings shall be erected 
from plans prepared by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, to be approved 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized and directed to contract for said buildings in the same manner and under 
the same regulations as for other public buildings of the United States, but the con- 
tract for said buildings, including the preparation of ground therefor and the 
approaches thereto, and the interior and exterior decorative wiring and lighting 
thereof shall not exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, which sum or 
so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized 
and required to dispose of said buildings, or the materials composing the same, at 
the close of the exposition, giving preference to the State of Washington or to the 
Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition corporation or to the city of Seattle to purchase the 
same at an appraised value to be ascertained in such manner as the Secretary of 
the Treasury may determine. 

Sec 6. That the allotment of space for exhibitors in the building or buildings 
erected under authority of this Act for the use of the district of Alaska, the Territory 
of Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands shall be done and performed without charge 
to exhibitors by the Government board created by this Act. 

Sec 7. That dies for medals bearing appropriate devices, emblems, and inscrip- 
tions commemorative of said Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition and of the awards 
to be made to the exhibitors thereat shall be prepared by the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury at some mint of the United States for the board of trustees of Alaska- Y'ukon- 
Pacific Exposition, a corporation, subject to the provisions of the fifty-second section 
of the coinage Act of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and upon the payment by 
said Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of a sum not less than the cost thereof; said 
medals shall be coined by the coining press located in and being part of the Govern- 
ment exhibit, and without cost to the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Provided, 
That said Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition shall furnish free of charge the electric 
power necessary to operate said coining press and all provisions of law against the 
counterfeiting or imitating of coins of the United States shall apply to the medals 
issued under this Act. Said Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition shall furnish without 
cost to the United States all materials used by the printing and engraving presses 
exhibited by the Government at said exposition in the production of the usual souve- 
nirs of appropriate design, and said Alaska- Y T ukon-Pacific Exposition is hereby 



4 ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 

authorized, through any agent, employee, privilege holder, or concessionnaire 
appointed by its propor officer, to vend and sell at or near the place of manufacture 
any medal, print, or engraving authorized under the provisions of this Act: Provided, 
That the vending and selling of all such medals, prints, and engravings shall be sub- 
ject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Sec. 8. That the United States shall not be liable on account of said exposition for 
any expenses incident to or growing out of the same, except for the construction of 
the building or buildings hereinbefore authorized and for the purpose of paying the 
expense incident to the selection, preparation, purchase, installation, transportation, 
care, custody, and safe return of the exhibits made by the Government and for the 
employment of proper persons as officers and assistants by the Government board 
created by this Act, and for other expenses, and for the maintenance of said building 
or buildings and other contingent expenses to be approved by the chairman of the 
Government board, or, in the event of his absence or disability, by such officer as 
the board may designate, and the Secretary of the Treasury, upon itemized accounts 
and vouchers: Provided, That no liability against the Government shall be incurred 
and no expenditure of money appropriated by this Act shall be made until the pres- 
ident of said exposition shall have furnished to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
the Treasury proof that there has been obtained for the purpose of completing and 
opening said exposition bona fide subscriptions to the stock of Alaska- Yukon-Pacific 
Exposition (a corporation), by responsible parties, contributions, donations, and 
appropriations, from all sources, aggregating a sum not less than one million dollars. 
Provided, That no appropriation made by any State or Territory, and no appropria- 
tion herein made, shall be considered as any part of said million dollars. 

Sec. 9. That the United States shall not in any manner or under any circumstances 
be liable for any of the acts, doings, or representations of said Alaska-Yukon-Pacific 
Exposition (a corporation), its officers, agents, servants, or employees, or any of 
them, or for service, salaries, labor, or wages of said officers, agents, servants, or 
employees, or any of them, or for any subscriptions to the capital stock, or for any 
stock certificates, bonds, mortgages, or obligations of any kind issued by said cor- 
poration, or for any debts, liabilities, or expenses, of any kind or nature whatever, 
attending such exposition corporation, or accruing by reason of the same. 

Sec 10. That nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to create any liability 
upon the part of the United States, directly or indirectly, for any debt or obligation 
incurred or for any claim for aid or pecuniary assistance from Congress or the 
Treasury of the United States in support or liquidation of any debts or obligations 
created by said United States Government board in excess of appropriations herein 
made. 

Sec 11. That the United States shall not in any manner or under any circum- 
stances make any loan, directly or indirectly, to the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition 
or for the benefit of said exposition or for any of the purposes thereof, and shall not 
appropriate for any purpose whatsoever in connection with said exposition any sum 
of money other than that provided in this act. 

Sec 12. That as a condition precedent to the payment of the appropriations herein 
provided for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition shall contract with the Secretary 
of the Treasury to close the grounds of the said exposition to visitors on Sundays 
during the period of said exposition. 

As amended, the committee recommends that the bill be passed. 
The Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition is incorporated under the laws 
of the State of Washington, and the exposition is to be held at the 
city of Seattle. This proposed exposition deals not merely with the 
States of the Pacific slope, but also with Alaska, the Yukon territory, 
British Columbia, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Its object is to 
demonstrate the progress and the resources of the entire region of the 
Pacific and to forecast the future possibilities of the oriental trade. 
The Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition is of peculiar interest among 
enterprises of this character in that it deals with the resources not 
only of the Pacific territories of this country, but also with the Ca- 
nadian territory of the Yukon, thus affording the unusual spectacle 
of different territories under different flags joining forces and uniting 
in interest. Yukon territory and British Columbia, both of them 
under the Dominion government, are both of them to be as much a 
part of the exposition as are Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines, 



ALASKA- YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 5 

under the Government of the United States — a situation expressive 
of harmony and good will and international comity and speaking 
much for the continuance of the amicable relations between us and 
our English-speaking neighbors. It is estimated that 7,500,000 per- 
sons live in the section of the country in the United States and Canada 
within a radius of 1,000 miles of Seattle, all of whom are directly 
interested in this exposition, as an opportunity to show their material 
wealth and development. The President in his message at the begin- 
ning of the Fifty-ninth Congress, referring to the needs of Alaska and 
the scope of the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, said : 

Our fellow-citizens who dwell on the shores of Puget Sound with characteristic 
energy are arranging to hold in Seattle the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Its 
special aims include the upbuilding of Alaska and the development of American 
commerce on the Pacific Ocean. This exposition, in its purposes and scope, should 
appeal not only to the people of the Pacific slope, but to the people of the United 
States at large. Alaska since it was bought has yielded to the Government $11,000,000 
of revenue and has produced nearly $300,000,000 in gold, furs, and fish. When 
properly developed it will become in large degree a land of homes. The countries 
bordering the Pacific Ocean have a population more numerous than that of all the 
countries of Europe; their annual foreign commerce amounts to over $3,000,000,000, 
of which the share of the United States is some $700,000,000. If this trade were 
thoroughly understood and pushed by our manufacturers and producers, the indus- 
tries, not only of the Pacific slope, but of all our country, and particularly of our 
cotton-growing States, would be greatly benefited. Of course, in order to get these 
benefits, we must treat fairly the countries with which we trade. 

In the message at the beginning of the Sixtieth Congress, the Pres- 
ident said of the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition: 

The courage and enterprise of the citizens of the far/ Northwest in the projected 
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, to be held in 1909, should receive liberal encour- 
agement. This exposition is not sentimental in its conception, but seeks to exploit 
the natural resources of Alaska and to promote the commerce, trade, and industry of 
the Pacific States with their neighboring States and with our insular possessions and 
the neighboring countries of the Pacific. The exposition asks no loan from the 
Congress, but seeks appropriations for national exhibits and exhibits of the western 
dependencies of the General Government. The State of Washington and the city of 
Seattle have shown the characteristic Western enterprise in large donations for the 
conduct of this exposition, in which other States are lending generous assistance. 

The management of the exposition has not asked the Government 
to give the exposition any money or to loan it any money. It asks 
only that the Government may participate in the exhibition. A 
statement is incorporated in the bill that hereafter no loan will be 
asked and no money received. 

The committee was strongly impressed by the action of the people 
of the State of Washington and of the city of Seattle toward making 
the fair a success. Beautiful and suitable grounds for the exposition 
have been secured on the campus of the State University. The se- 
curing of these grounds will reduce real-estate speculation to a mini- 
mum. Over $350,000 has already been expended in preparing these 
grounds and in advertising the exposition. The State of Washington 
has appropriated for the exposition $1,000,000. The counties in the 
State have given $278,000. The citizens of Seattle subscribed in one 
day $625,000, and have already paid of this subscription over $425,- 
000. In all, the people of Washington have given $2,000,000 and 
have asked only that the Government give $750,000 for the purpose 
of participating therein. Of this $750,000, however, it should be 
remembered that $50,000 is for a Philippine exhibit, $50,000 for a 
Hawaiian exhibit, and $100,000 for an Alaskan exhibit. 



1 



6 ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION 

ALASKA. 

It is the unanimous desire of the people of Alaska to participate in' 
the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, but she has no way to raise 
money for this purpose. The Government taxes Alaska and Alaska 
has paid to the Government more than $11,000,000. The products 
taken from Alaska since she became our territory have been over 
$300,000,000. It has given us over $125,000,000 in gold. The 
present annual output of gold is more than $20,000,000. The value' 
of the salmon pack for 1907 will exceed $12,000,000. The codfish 
banks are beyond comparison the greatest in the world. The Gov- 
ernment expert sent to investigate these banks states in a report that 
there are 1,000 codfish in the waters of Alaska for every one ever in 
the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Alaska coal fields, according to Government reports, are among- 
the greatest of North America, and the quality of its coal is equaled 
only by that of Pennsylvania. Alaska copper mines are of recent dis- 
covery and are probably the greatest on the globe. It also has assets 
of great value in its big game and in its furs. Its forests are a resource 
that will in a few years be of immense value. Its agricultural possi- 
bilities are extensive and are just beginning to be investigated and 
understood. The vast resources of Alaska are little known and practi- 
cally untouched. No one can measure and no one can exaggerate the 
undeveloped wealth of Alaska. It has seemed to the committee that 
there should be no hesitancy, in view of these facts, on the part of 
Congress in giving Alaska $100,000 for the purpose of making a 
demonstration of her resources, and especially is this so, as she has paid 
to the Government so much and has received from the Government so 
little in return and as she has no way to raise money for herself, 

HAWAII. 

Hawaii pays annually to the General Government $1,000,000. She 
has asked some of this money — a small portion of it — to make an 
exhibit at this exposition. Hawaii is to-day cramped and retarded in 
her development by want of capital and of people. This great handi- 
cap is due almost entirely to a lack of information of the world at large 
of the resources and opportunities of these islands. If the people of 
the United States knew these opportunities, population and money 
would soon find their way there. As her people want to participate in 
this exhibit and as the committee thinks it would mean much, not 
only to Hawaii, but to the nation, the committee beHeves that Hawaii 
should have at least $50,000 for this purpose. 

PHILIPPINES. 

The resources of the Philippines are little known to the people of 
this country. They have great mineral resources. They have tre- 
mendous agricultural possibilities. They have vast forests of rare and 
beautiful wood. Of their people, their capabilities, their accomplish- 
ments, and of the resources of their country even we in the United 
States know practically- nothing. The Government should help the 
Philippines to make a creditable exhibit, one especially that would 
show the commercial opportunities and the commercial resources of 



ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 7 

the islands. There is capital in this country ready to go to these 
islands and to develop them if the facts concerning them can only be 
brought to its attention. The committee feels entirely justified in 
asking an appropriation of $50,000 for the Philippines. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE PACIFIC. 

Not only will the fair promote harmony and good will with our Eng- 
lish-speaking neighbors on the north, but it will tend to strengthen 
national comity and give closer relations with all nations on the 
Pacific, and especially with the countries of the Orient. The great 
future commercial development of this country will almost certainly 
be upon the Pacific. Since we acquired Hawaii and the Philippines 
our interest on that ocean has become of vital importance to the nation. 
Now is a critical period in our history in regard to securing oriental 
trade and in the matter of securing the good will and attracting the 
attention of oriental nations. An exposition such as the one pro- 
posed to be held at Seattle will be of greatest value in showing to 
these countries the interest they have in us and the interest we have 
in them. Japan is to give a great exposition in 1912, and we will un- 
doubtedly participate in that exposition, and Japan will undoubtedly 
participate in the exposition at Seattle. These two expositions will 
bring these two great nations on opposite sides of the Pacific together 
in a way that will prove of greatest benefit to both. The primal 
object of this exposition is to stimulate trade upon the Pacific and to 
still further strengthen the friendly relations with the other nations 
iupon this greatest ocean. 

William A. Rodenberg. 

Joseph Howell. 

James M. Miller. 

Charles N. Brumm. 

Edwin W. Higgins. 

Cyrus Durey. 

John M. Nelson. 

Joel Cook. 

John W. Langley. 

Harry L. Maynard. 

George S. Legare. 

Henry M. Goldfogle. 

Joseph L. Rhinock. 

Courtney W. Hamlin. 

Le Gage Pratt. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 929 299 7 



VIEWS OF THE MINORITY. 

The undersigned, a minority of your committee, believes that no 
appropriation should be made in aid of the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific 
Exposition. 

Whether or not it ever was desirable for the United States to aid 
such undertakings is an open question. At all events, the people have 
become tired of expositions, and it is time to put a stop to Govern- 
ment aid. 

So far as the merits of this particular proposition are concerned, it 
must be admitted that in proportion to the amount subscribed locally 
the financial aid asked of the Government is of noticeably modest 

Eroportions. The undersigned, nevertheless, recommends that none 
e given. 

March 4, 1908. 

Augustus P. Gardner, 

Chairman. 

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019 929 299 7 # 



Conservation Resources 



